US Consular Offices in Mexico Closing, Officials Site ‘System Upgrade’ Again

Breitbart Texas traveled to the Mexican border cities of Reynosa and Matamoros to recruit citizen journalists willing to risk their lives and expose the cartels silencing their communities. The writers would face certain death at the hands of the Gulf Cartel if a pseudonym were not used. Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles are published in both English and in their original Spanish. This article was written by Matamoros’ “JA Espinoza.”

MATAMOROS, Tamaulipas—The American Consulate in this border city announced that they will be suspending activities on Friday. The closure will take place in all of the nine consular offices in Mexico.

Through their social media pages the American Consulate in Matamoros announced that due to a system upgrade the consular operations in the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City and in the nine consular offices in that country. This is the second time this year that the U.S. Consulate in Matamoros temporarily closes for system updates to their networks.

The information released by consular officials only mentions Mexico as the country suspending their operation. It does not confirm if consulates in other countries are going through the same process.

The consular office apologized for any inconvenience that the closures could cause to Mexican national who needed to process documents in that office or others nationwide. The offices are expected to re-open on Monday.

The office also notified any U.S. citizens who may need assistance due to an emergency in Mexico to call +52 868 812 4402.

As Breitbart Texas previously reported, this year the U.S. Consulate mysteriously heightened the security around the consular offices and even blocked off some surrounding streets.

The consulate was also the victim of a robbery in which suspected cartel gunmen stole more than 11,500 border crossing cards of visas out of a truck, Breitbart Texas reported. The gunmen returned the visas just days later after the case drew large amounts of attention.

The U.S. consulates in Mexico were also mentioned in a letter that two U.S. congressmen sent to Secretary of State John Kerry asking for better security amid ongoing cartel violence, Breitbart Texas reported.

Earlier this year, the Department of State temporarily stopped issuing passports and visas in its embassies and consulates following a series of computer problems.

In the border city of Matamoros alone, the U.S. Consulate processes about 400 visas per day. This weeks closure means that those individuals who had pending matters at the office will have to reschedule their appointments to a later date.